theibcdaily
Going the wireless way Opinion
Are wireless systems still a question mark in the minds of production teams? Not any more says JP Delport, broadcast sales manager, Cobham Broadcast
The deployment of wireless camera systems was once a questionable option for high profile, 'catch-it-or-miss-it- forever', live events. Not any more.
When COFDM was
introduced into mobile wireless applications over a decade ago, it revolutionised event coverage. It meant that digital wireless camera systems could transmit non-line-of-sight signals, which gave producers complete freedom to go live from locations that were previously out of the question. Along with MPEG encoding, wireless was well on the way to success.
MPEG-2 was in my opinion the most successful compression with the introduction of wireless camera
systems. It performed well in SD but HD brought a whole new challenge.
H.264 encoding has recently been a breakthrough in HD and SD wireless applications. With approximately twice the compression, the user is afforded far better picture quality (MB/s) without any sacrifice in reliability. An early reservation in H.264 encoding was latency, which was initially in excess of 500m/s. Our R&D team made some incredible advances on the algorithm, giving us the ability to offer a latency as low as 15m/s, which not only made H.264 encoding viable for wireless communication, but a preferred option. Our wireless systems are now being used worldwide to
Smart Assist streams live Ovide By David Fox
The Ovide Smart Assist HD2 video assist can now do live streaming of video to iPads and iPhones using H.264, as well as independent playback. “We encode live in H.264 and
store the clips as well. You can receive up to two different feeds in each iPhone/iPad, and up to 16 different devices can receive the wireless video,” explained Sergi Maudet, Ovide’s technical director.
“Because we record this very same H.264 stream, you can do
independent playback from all your devices. So in Smart Assist you can be either live or playing back and each of your iOS devices can be playing back or seeing playbacks of different clips for each unit.” Smart Assist, which is
currently being used on Mission Impossible 5, is based on QTake HD software in an easily portable system with an all-in- one touchscreen, with HD-SDI I/O, independent headphone output, USB 3.0 connectors for external drives, SSD internal video drives and useful features such as a reading lamp It can record up to 50 hours of ProRes video, plus H.264 live
bring live events to viewers from angles and perspectives never before possible – many of which were patently impossible with wired systems. Cobham’s wireless technology is being used for everything from camel and dhow racing in the Middle East, to surfing, cricket and rugby in Australia, horse racing in the UK and baseball in the US – almost all from new perspectives that are delivering new levels of exciting and engaging content. At IBC2014 we are
demonstrating the virtues of Globecam’s Refcam, which enables viewers to see sports action from the viewpoint of those on the actual field of play, live and in high definition, using Cobham’s Nano HD TX, the world’s smallest HD digital
recording for later independent playback and live iPad/iPhone view, transmitted via Smart Assist’s built-in Wi-Fi hotspot. The system offers compositing (green screen), editing, and metadata handling and has numerous features for 3D, all non-destructive and logged for later data export. 11.A73
video transmitter. Images captured by a Refcam, worn by an on-field official, are transmitted by the camera-mounted Nano HD TX to Cobham’s receive system, which provides seamless integration with any broadcast production facility. We are also demonstrating what UK-based company BroadcastRF has done with the Nano HD TX, mounting mini- camera/transmitter systems right in the starting stalls of prestigious UK horse racing events such as the Epson Derby and Royal Ascot. These systems are durable too, as evidenced by their use in the television coverage of the Abu Dhabi Yacht Club’s Ghanada Dhow Sailing Championship. To provide this
in a way that had never been done before, we had to ensure that all of our onboard transmitters were able to work inside specially designed splash-proof housings at an ambient temperature of at least 50C. We tested the systems rigorously beforehand and they all performed flawlessly during the event, which is a significant source of pride for us, and front-line proof of the technology’s robust and dependable nature. So, are wireless systems still a question mark in the minds of production teams? Not if they talk to us or, even better, our customers. 1.F41
Wide adapter for Cabrio 19-90 zoom Schneider Optics
By David Fox
The new Wide Angle Adapter from Schneider Optics for Fujinon’s 19-90mm T2.9 PL- mount Cabrio zoom lens provides a 30% wider angle than the Cabrio’s 19mm limitation, offering users a minimum focal length of
Look Smart: The HD2 can now stream live to an iPad allowing independent playback on the device
14.5mm. With its 114mm diameter, it will also work with Fujinon’s 14-35mm T2.9 PL-mount Cabrio.
The non-zoom through adapter is designed for quick mounting and removal on the front of the Cabrio lens, using a quick-release lever, and is claimed to allow scenes shot with it to be intercut with no change in image quality compared to scenes shot without it. 11.A41
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